Nominations for 2008 Word of the YearIt’s that time again, when people start thinking about a new or resurgent word or phrase that best captures the spirit of the past year. And what a year! We heard the words bailout and lipstick more times than we’d ever dreamed, and saw also the rise of invented words like staycation and recessionista. What are your nominations for 2008’s Word of the Year?

Speaking English with a Foreign AccentDo English-speaking foreigners understand you better if you speak English with a foreign accent? A Californian says that on a recent visit to Armenia, he discovered the locals had an easier time if he spoke English with an Armenian accent. Is this okay or could it be seen as condescending?

BuckarooBuckaroo is an English word adapted from the Spanish word vaquero, meaning “cowboy.” Is there a specific term for the linguistic process whereby such words are adapted into English?

Joe the PlumberMartha nominates another Word of the Year candidate: Joe the, as in “Joe the Plumber,” and subsequent variations on the “X the Y” formula arising from a certain drain-fixer’s quarter-hour of fame.

Comprised OfAn Indiana woman shudders every time anyone uses the expression comprised of. She wants to know if she’s right that it’s bad grammar, and more important, is she right to be a stickler about it?

HypermilingMartha and Grant discuss some other Word of the Year candidates, including hockey mom and hypermiling.

Chinese Fire DrillThe term “Chinese fire drill” can mean either a “state of confusion” or the adoloscent ritual involving a red light and a carful of rowdy teenagers. But a caller who overheard the expression at work worries that expression might be racist.

Slang This! with a Video Game DesignerThis week’s slang quiz challenges a Seattle video game designer to pick out the correct slang terms from a mishmash of possible answers, including hammantaschen, party party, play pattycake, and get off.

Jive TurkeysIn 2008, is using the term jive turkey politically incorrect, or just a little dorky-sounding? A Las Vegas schoolteacher jokingly used it with her students, then had second thoughts. Grant sets her mind at ease.

Devil’s Beating his WifeIt’s raining, it’s pouring, but the sun is still shining. Quick—what do you call that? Some folks refer to it a sunshower, and others call it a monkey’s wedding. But a woman says her Southern-born mother used a much more unnerving expression: “The devil’s beating his wife.” Martha and Grant discuss the possible origins of this expression and its variants, like “The devil is beating his wife and the angels are crying.” Around the world, this meteorological phenomenon goes by an astonishing range of names. In Lithuanian, the name translates as orphan’s tears. In Korean, a tiger is getting married. Here’s a list of many more, collected a few years ago by linguist Bert Vaux.

Accent InfluencesWhich of the following three factors has the biggest influence on a person’s accent? Is it your geographic location, your family, or the media?

18 Responses

I am not a fan of staycation. That is the only kind of vacation that my family took when I was young. We had just as much fun driving one to three hours to see nearby attractions as I do flying all over the world today. I don’t see why a special word is needed here.

My initioal thought was hockey-mom, but I see you’ve already incorporated that hyphenated word. My next best (perhaps better) is a Republican reflection on Obama:
A-Bama-nation (slightly tweekeed Abomanation).

Alas, Martha, what happens if the cost of fuel and generally bad economic conditions lead the “staycation” to become the norm. In that case, we may need a retronym for a “travel vacation”… that unusual kind where you actually go somewhere.

I enjoyed the discussion about how to pronounce English words in other languages. I speak Spanish fluently and will defend my pronunciation of English words in Spanish because it’s normally how native speakers say them. For example, a CD in Mexico is known as a “compact” (pronounced comb pahkt — long o and a as in father) and the Internet is een-terr-net (the r has a slight roll). Many English words are borrowed by Spanish and their pronunciations reflect the Spanish pronunciation of the syllabic parts. If I pronounce them with an American accent, they may not be understood. Therefore I think it is perfectly acceptable–if not necessary–to pronounce English words with a foreign accent.

On a related note, I spent a month in Brazil earlier this fall. I was asked by a straight-faced Brazilian man of about 50 years of age whether I was related to Ronald Reagan. My last name is Hagen. It took me a few days to understand why he would have thought such a thing. Then it dawned on me… the initial ‘r’ in many Brazilian dialects is pronounced sort of like the letter ‘h’ in English. Therefore, Hagen and Reagan are pronounced alike!

Alas, Martha, what happens if the cost of fuel and generally bad economic conditions lead the â€œstaycationâ€ to become the norm. In that case, we may need a retronym for a â€œtravel vacationâ€â€¦ that unusual kind where you actually go somewhere.

Marc, I think you’re ahead of us all. I suppose it could happen. “Travel vacation” — wouldn’t that be something?

Don’t we already have a “retro-nym” for travel vacation? I am pretty sure that a vacation means a period of rest, with no further expectation to its definition. Meanwhile, a “stay-cation” combines a description of that rest bit.

While there is certainly no absolute, there is an implication that a “getaway vacation” means that there will be change of scenery as well as a rest from work or school. But if we want to be cute, why not call it a “away-cation?”

Hello, I am a new listener, having just received an mp3 player and I love the program. I was listening to the 11/16 episode and noticed Grant tell a gentleman on the phone that we don’t have k’s standing alone in English. As I looked over the list of episodes I haven’t listened to yet I noticed Lackabookaphobia in one of the titles and book really stood out. So I decided to try and come up with other words that have a lone k in them. Here’s my very short list: book, look, took, shook, nook, Kaleidoscope, knickerbockers, knick-knack, kleptomania, king, knight, kit. Here’s a website with unusual k words: http://phrontistery.info/k.html. I’m loving the show and look forward to the new ones as well as making my way through the old ones!

For what it’s worth, we’ll weigh in on “Comprised of.” Yes, Ms. Indiana Woman, you should shudder and you should be a sticker about it. The correct term is “composed of.”

“Comprise” means to gather together into a whole. For example, “Congress comprises many personality types.” “Compose” means to break apart a whole to describe its parts. “Congress is composed of many personality types.” [These are “working definitions,” not official definitions.] The most important difference, from an editorial standpoint, is the emphasis on the whole or on the parts.

The English language comprises many words, and the language is composed of many words.

Actually, the term for bad Spanish is “pocho.” I lived in Mexico for over six years and have been closely associated with Spanish-speaking people for nearly forty years. I live near Houston TX where most of the Spanish-speaking people are Mexicans, either born there or born of parents born there. I frequently have opportunity to cringe at the bad pronunciation or the made up words I hear. I immediately review in my mind the correct term. I don’t want to lose the hard work I did and continue to do to speak the language correctly. One term I’m not sure of is the use of the word Internet without an article, ie: Vi en Internet algo. I am sure it is correct but don’t know why.
Beverly A.

We’ve since heard from a patent examiner who says “comprise” has a very specific meaning in patent law, which jibes with a conversation I had recently with a patent attorney. But as I mentioned, it’s a very specific application of the word.

Yes, absolutely. Although even in Spanish there are letters that change pronunciation according to the vowel they are paired with ie: the letters C and G. I remember the proper pronunciation by repeating (for C) ka for ca, ko for co, ku for cu, say for ce and see for ci. For G it is: ga, go, goo, hay, hee (same vowel order-aouei. Then there is the seldom used oomlaut that changes the letter U. They call it ” la crema.”
Gue with crema is guay (guero-blond or pale skinned) and without is gay (guerra-war). Approximate pronunciations here, you have to add the appropriate Spanish accent.
I could go on ad infinitum but you get the idea.
Beverly A.

>>>> Here in TJ it’s â€œun cidÃ­â€ (spelled â€œun CDâ€).
Desertpete and Beverly: Don’t you just love a language that’s spelled the way it sounds?

Martha,

There is at least one segment that deals with tanks (containers, not armor) of US English that spells the word as it sounds. There is an old tar tank less than a mile from my house with “MT” written on it.

Chocolate Gravy 12/05/2016: Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies,... [more]

Fickle Finger of Fate 11/21/2016: A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statement that's fraudulent or bogus, but all the words she can think of sound old-fashioned.... [more]

Stars and Garters 11/14/2016: Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he's also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like "flummox" and "butterfingers." Also, the life's... [more]

Proof in the Pudding 11/05/2016: Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on... [more]

Boss of Me 10/31/2016: If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today's bestsellers, and read one from the 1930's instead. Or read something besides fiction in... [more]

Word For Being Out of Place 12/05/2016: An anachronism is something that's placed in the wrong time period, like a Roman soldier wearing Birkenstocks. But what's the word for if someone or... [more]

Found vs. Establish 12/05/2016: An eighth-grade history teacher from Denton, Texas, is teaching about colonial America, and wonders if there's a difference between the phrases to found a colony... [more]

Think and Grin 12/05/2016: The "Think and Grin" section of Boy's Life magazine has some pretty corny jokes, including one about a parking space. This is part of a... [more]

A Titch 12/05/2016: The word titch means "a small amount," and is most likely just a variant of touch. This is part of a complete episode.
... [more]

Long Synonym Quiz 12/05/2016: Quiz Guy John Chaneski offers a game that involves finding the synonym with the most syllables. For example, one synonym for the word dumb is... [more]

Chocolate Gravy 12/05/2016: A listener in San Antonio, Texas, has fond memories of chocolate gravy over biscuits, the word gravy in this sense having nothing to do with... [more]